Ascension
by John Riehle
Summary: What if the Justice League had arrived too late at the end of Panic in the Sky to stop Luthor?
1. The Good Doctor

Determined hands, guided by a brilliant mind, worked tirelessly, completing final touches. The last circuits being completed, the whole of the husk being welded together into its final, beautiful, perfect form.

Lex Luthor permitted himself only a spare second to wipe the sweat from his brow before returning to work. Months of planning, and an entire lifetime of unrestrained ambition were about to be brought to culmination.

"Now, you're perfect!" Lex's voice carried a hushed awe as he stood back to admire his handiwork. He mused that this must have been what the fictional 'mad' scientist, Dr. Frankenstein, felt as he toiled in his laboratory that fateful night, working diligently on the body of a lifeless husk whose birth to life would signal his transition from mortality to godhood. Of course the good doctor, while ambitious for his day, was clearly naïve. The power to give life was a power held by any common doctor.

No, the true qualities of a god were far greater, grander, than such mediocrity. Ultimate power, ultimate knowledge, immortality; these were the traits of a true god, traits that he would soon posses.

"The perfect, super powerful, immortal body; a suitable place for me to spend the rest of eternity." The body in question lay flat on a kind of operating table, surrounded by assorted instruments and equipment found only in a handful of places on the entire planet, for this was no mere human husk. The body in question was an almost perfect duplicate of the nano-tech android first developed by the late Professor Ivo, though it had undergone some minor facial reconstruction to now carry Lex's own unique visage, as opposed to the otherwise featureless head on the original android.

"How ironic," Lex mused as he began walking over to a nearby control panel to retrieve a large cable that had, till now, lay harmlessly amidst the horde of electronic devices scattered about the place. "Years of plotting, hundreds of millions spent on Cadmus R&D, and none of it bore fruit. No, it's a lowly employee of Lexcorp, Prof. Ivo, creator of Amazo, who we have to thank for my impending godhood." Even as Lex spoke, he connected the large cable to a kind of outlet attached on the left side of the android's head.

"That was the last piece I needed." Lex's monologue was interrupted by a dark voice coming from the other side of the room. The voice belonged to a familiar masked man bearing the symbol of the bat. If this arrival came as any surprise to Luthor, it was not revealed through his facial expression, or his tone of voice.

"Got it all figured out, have you?"

"When you and Atom worked together to stop the first Amazo, he showed you the blueprints, and I suspect you have a photographic memory." Batman recounted.

"I'm too modest to boast." Lex merely shrugged off the accusation as if being showered in praise.

"The real purpose of Cadmus was to give you super powers." Batman concluded.

"And to ruin Superman's reputation." Lex finished as he stepped down from the raised platform upon which the dead android lay. "Imagine how sweet it will be when I save the world from 'the menace of the Justice League'. Now, when I kill Superman, they'll build statues in my honor." Lex's lips seemed to almost drink in the delicious irony of his statement.

"Maybe next time." Even as Batman had began to speak, he had already produced a batarang which he hurled, all in the same instant, straight for the head of the grey husk laying on the table. Batman's aim was true, but his shot was intercepted as Luthor's hand flew up in the air, catching the projectile inches from its target. As intended, the weapon exploded with enough force to take a man hand off.

"That… was uncalled for." Luthor spoke as he lowered his unfazed hand down to try and flex the minor pain out of its joints, revealing his digits to be miraculously unharmed.

As the shock appeared in Batman's face, Luthor moved to grab a nearby tray full of tools and swing it at the Dark Knight with inhuman strength, knocking him to the side. Batman rolled with the force, bringing himself back up to his feet just in time to see Luthor running straight at him.

The bald businessman attacked the masked hero with a series of punches that he easily dodged. Reaching into his utility belt once again, Batman produced a gas capsule that he quickly detonated right in Luthor's face. The capsule in question contained a chemical compound powerful enough to put a dozen elephants into a deep coma.

Luthor was merely taken aback by this attack. Even the famous detective could not account for Luthor's apparent superhuman strength, yet he would not allow this complication to stop him now. Batman acted as best he could to compound upon Luthor's momentary lack of guard by digging his fists as hard as he could into the side of Luthor's face. Yet his attacks had no apparent effect as Lex came back up with a powerful strike that knocked Batman straight across the room, causing him to impact hard into the side of the wall.

"You like?" Lex mused to a groaning Batman as he indicated to his own strength. "It seems that Cadmus has made some remarkable accomplishments with nanotechnology recently. Certainly nothing even close to the brilliance of Dr. Ivo, but I was able to use this technology to give myself super human strength, just in case any of your fellow League members came snooping around while I was working. I was even able to modify it to cure my cancer. A bit redundant I suppose, given my plans, but it just seemed so… tedious to die of kryptonite poisoning before ascending to godhood. Now, if you'll excuse me," Lex moved over to the largely stilled figure, grabbing him by the shoulder as he carried him over to a nearby window "I'm in the middle of a private experiment, and you're trespassing." With that, Lex hurled Batman through the glass window, shattering it, leaving the dark knight to fall down to the street below.

"Hmmph, I wonder if I should have called the police, or the street cleaners." Lex spoke with tremendous satisfaction as he returned to his work.

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Shrill winds brought the Batman racing back to consciousness. Even before his senses fully comprehended the speed at which the ground seemed flying upwards towards him, his arms moved on their own, quickly retrieving his grapnel gun from his utility belt and firing upward to the perch of the nearest building for safety.

But even the sharpest instincts are a poor substitute for a steady aim. The grapnel's aim was short, harmlessly and ineffectually impacting and bouncing off the solid side of the Lexcorp building, leaving gravity's pull on the Batman uninterrupted… that is, until a familiar arm reached down to grab the masked hero by his shoulder.

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Lex forced down the anticipation in himself as he steadied the last of the equipment. A specially designed headset went over his scalp. The set was connected via a series of delicate cables and wires to a nearby control console, which was in turn connected to the large cable currently leading into the side of the grey android's head.

Lex's eyes focused on the control panel to the side of his chair, making sure the control had been properly set. There could be no room for error.

No. There would be no error this time. Everything had been calculated, recalculated, and then done all over again to ensure that there were no mistakes.

Luthor's hand reached out to activate the controls when a familiar voice shattered his dreams.

"Sorry Lex, not this time."

The sound of the voice opened a flood gate of rage within Luthor's mind. He didn't need to look over to identify the voice's owner.

Sure enough, seven tall, proud figures stood before the very window that Luthor had thrown Batman through. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Flash, J'onn J'onnz, and even the apparently rescued Batman. Luthor had come to intimately know and hate every one of them. Now they were here, now, when he was so close.

"Waller sends her best. Something about you're under arrest for using our space cannon to murder everyone at Cadmus, high treason… I just got so emotional after she said you were under arrest." Flash smirked triumphantly.

"You're finished Lex. You're caught, and this time, you're fresh out of presidential pardons." Superman spoke with authority, and a hint of satisfaction himself.

"No, you won't stop me. Damn you, not this time." Even as Luthor ranted, he pressed down on the activate control on the console before him. In an instant, the headset over his skull began to emit a bright electrical display that lit the entire room. Luthor's eyes went wide with almost unnatural terror as the machines throughout the room roared to life. The console connecting his headset to the cable running into the android announced the analysis of complex data with a series of irregularly beeps at varying intervals.

This lasted for less than a second. From out of the eyes of Superman, twin crimson beams laced out across the room, instantly searing the cables and wires connected to Luthor's headset. The effect was instantaneous. The process seemingly interrupted, the various machines throughout the laboratory powered down with an audible hum, as though disheartened that they were interrupted in their work.

Tense silence filled the room for a moment longer as the Justice League cautiously stepped forward. There was nothing. No movement from either Lex, or the android.

The Flash was the first to reach Luthor, waving his red hand before Lex's seemingly lifeless eyes in an attempt to elicit some kind of response. Yet there was naught but stillness.

"Is… is he alive?" Flash asked hesitantly as Batman moved forward, grabbing Luthor's arm.

"Weak pulse, but steady."

"Well the power may be running, but I can tell you the lights are definitely not on upstairs." Flash spoke with a mixture of humor and horror as he referenced the frozen look of wide terror in the face of Lex Luthor.

Even as the two took in Luthor's condition, two more of the League moved hesitantly to the android.

"What about the android?" Hawkgirl asked, flanked by Superman.

As if on cue, the giant golem rose up in a swift motion. The entire League leapt in terror as the beady orange eyes brightened slightly to life. Then turning towards Superman, they emitted a horrifically familiar, pure white glow as the eyes of the android scanned the last son of krypton.

"Why, I'm just perfect." Lex Luthor's voice echoed from the mechanical goliath throughout the entire room.


	2. The Birth of a God

The entire Justice League wore the same look of pure terror as they backed away cautiously from the Lex android, even as it turned to face Superman.

"Now what is it they always say about you? Oh yes… faster than a speeding bullet…" Luthor flew forward in a grey blur, impacting into Superman with enough force to send the both of them hurtling out of the building at speeds sufficient enough to shatter the glass of the room's huge windows, uplifting equipment and tools in their wake. The two flew straight through the building across from the Lexcorp towers and through the building on the other side of that, before impacting into the side of yet another.

"… more powerful than a locomotive." Luthor jeered as he forced his new super strong fingers around Superman's throat.

Back in the Lexcorp towers, the League struggled to re-gather themselves.

"Quick, everyone fall back. Superman and I will handle this." Batman shouted to the others.

"No way, we're not just going to leave you two alone against that." Flash argued.

"No, he's right. We've been through this before. The only thing the rest of us are going to do is make Lex even stronger. Fall back. We'll regroup later." Green Lantern ordered. The other Leaguer's turned to each other hesitantly, before, reluctantly, taking flight. "Good luck."

With that, Batman found himself alone to chase after Lex and Superman, and now left with the burning question of what to do next.

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"Oh I've waited far too long for this." Lex's smug smile never faded as his fingers continued to restrict Superman's breathing.

"Likewise." Heat vision burnt the inside of Lex's metal mouth, causing the android to retreat its attack in fear of permanent damage. As Lex's grip loosened, Superman forced his super strong fists into the android's gut, then into his chest and finally his face in super speed succession.

As the android flew back into the air from the force of the blows, a red and blue blur drove straight into it, forcing it hurtling towards the streets below.

The force of their impact blew chunks of heavy concrete and debris up into the air as if they weighed little more than spare ounces. The resulting crater was large enough to jam up the entire street and even the sidewalk, though no one had actually been below them at the time of the impact.

For a minute, nothing within the crater stirred, even as Batman landed down beside it. However, as soon as he attempted to look down into the abyss, he recognized the form of Superman sent flying up into the air; limp, with the android Luthor flying after of its own power.

This wasn't going as well as Lex had planned. He now had the same power as Superman, but not the same experience with it. He needed another edge. Fortunately, that was well within his ability to arrange. Scanning the city with his new x-ray and telescopic vision, he attempted to locate other members of the League, no doubt trying to protect themselves from his infamous gaze. It was a vain attempt. After all, why else would he have chosen Superman's powers first?

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The Flash had only been running for about thirty seconds. Still more than far enough in his mind. He knew that Batman was right, that was what he was famous for after all, but if there was even a chance that he might be needed, he would be ready.

"The fastest man alive." Lex's voice carried the cold echo of death itself, even as the Flash turned to see two glowing eyes scanning him, signaling the processing of data and modifications being made within the android based on those very scans. "Not anymore."

Super fast fists flew out, but the Lex android managed to dodge every one of them with the exact same speed. Luthor soon turned his defense into a counter offensive as a super fast, super strong arm shot out, slapping the Flash to the side like a rag doll.

The Flash struggled to bring himself to his feet, even as he looked up to see the hulking grey figure approaching him. However, a sigh of relief went through his body as a familiar emerald energy shot down from the sky, blasting Luthor straight down through the concrete street beneath his own feet and out of sight and mind.

"Thought I said to get clear." Green Lantern's tone was firm and unattached.

"No, really, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying." Flash sounded unconvincing in his assurances of well-being as he tried to rub the ache out of his muscles.

However, before GL could say another word, the Luthor android came crashing up through the city streets, right behind Jon Stewart. In the flash of an eye, Lex's arms wrapped around Green Lantern's upper frame, threatening to crush the very life out of him.

"Yes, this is how I imagined it would be. Crushing the life out of each and every one of you with my own fingers." Lex's voice echoed into Lantern's ears, as the emerald clad hero struggled to maintain his field enough to keep his ribs from snapping like mere twigs beneath the godly strain placed upon them.

The Flash rushed to action with a series of super fast blows, yet the Lex android seemed to take no notice of this attack. Instead, his grip continued to tighten with unyielding relentlessness.

Sensing the failing strength of his own defenses, Jon Stewart dug deep within himself, summoning all his willpower, harnessing it through his ring, for one last desperate effort. From all around his entire body, emerald energy radiated outward, filling the entire area with an almost serene green glow, as it emitted pure force from his body, causing the very concrete beneath his feet to fly up like mere sand in a storm as he let out an almost inhuman roar, knocking Luthor back and through the front wall of a nearby grocery store.

Jon took a moment longer to cry out in his own furry, desperate for breath, before nearly collapsing to the ground, only just being caught by the Flash before having to suffer the taste of concrete.

"Easy there buddy. Hey, shouldn't your hair be glowing yellow or something after that?"

The Flash's reference and humor went unappreciated as a super speedy Lex android tore into the wounded pair, sending the both of them flying off in separate directions, only to land painfully, unconscious on the cold ground beneath them.

Lex's scanners turned to Jon Stewart and his emerald ring. Once again, his eyes glowed white with the promise of new powers.

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Hawkgirl swooped overhead, her spirits much lower than her actual altitude. She had left Wonder Woman behind to come back, convinced she could do more good than harm given her limited super human abilities. Without her mace, her only other power was flight and Luthor would already have access to that within his arsenal. Yet if there was even a chance she could make a difference…

It had been very disturbing to her that she should now be trying to find her fellow teammates by following a path of destruction across the city; a path that ended with a very unpleasant discovery.

"Superman! Batman!" The Thanagarian female's voice sounded concern for her fellow Leaguers as she saw them lying unconscious on the street below. In a second, she was beside them, lifting Superman's head for closer inspection.

He was alive. They both were. That meant one thing.

But before Hawkgirl could react, an emerald dome came down around her, trapping her on the spot.

"How disappointing. I was hoping to ensnare the Martian with that trap." Lex floated down before her, his glowing white eyes scanning her yet again. The data had been processed as evidence by a large mace, glowing with electrical energy, virtually identical to her own, that appeared from within his metallic hulking form.

Hawkgirl let out a fierce war cry as she smashed away at the green prison with her mace. The emerald energies quickly dissolved away into nothingness, leaving her unrestrained to fly outward straight for Luthor.

Just as Hawkgirl threatened to bring her mace down right on top of Luthor's head, her target quickly vanished from her in a puff of super speed, only to reappear behind her, thirty feet away. She charged him again, only to have him once again retreat and reappear thirty feet away from her all over again.

"Come now. At least try to make this difficult for me." Luthor motioned invitingly with his palms, all the while his smirk betraying his own amusement. Hawkgirl tried to charge him again, only to be knocked out of the air by twin heat beams than burned the edges of her wings near the back.

The pain was unbearable as Hawkgirl fell to the ground, smoke rising from her backside as Lex slowly walked up to her.

"You know, I had thought about tearing your wings off, but that seemed inhuman, and quite indignant. No, I think I'll settle for just ripping your heart right out." Luthor paused as he looked down upon the alien beauty, almost expecting one of her team mates to show up and save her.

No. Not yet. There was still too much to do to allow himself to indulge in such simple pleasures. He wouldn't allow his plan to destroy the Justice League be sidetracked by petty murder.

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The Martian Manhunter moved through the crowd, his form now that of a middle aged business man, desperate to blend in with a group of like dressed individuals walking down the street. He knew that there could be little escape from Luthor's speed or new x-ray vision, and had telepathically sensed his different teammates as they each tried and failed to stop Luthor.

Yet he was determined not to make things any worse than they already were. He hated the idea, as much as any of his other teammates, of just sitting back and hiding all over again, as he had been forced to due throughout most of the battle with the original Amazo. Yet his intervention would now only truly make things go from bad to worst.

"Impressive. I really was expecting you to charge in headlong just like all the others." J'onn looked up to see the grey android floating above, his eyes glowing bright white, the sight of which sent the small group of people J'onn had been attempting to blend with scattering for their own safety while he himself remained perfectly still, even as the android came down to land directly before him.

"Do you know I couldn't even find you with Superman's x-ray vision? I knew you had to be close by, since I couldn't spot you flying over head; I just had no idea how to find you. Fortunately, this little beauty apparently has a million different user friendly functions." Luthor indicated to a glowing band around his right middle finger.

"You are unworthy of the powers you now posses." J'onn's 'disguise' melted away to reveal his natural green form in costume.

"Unworthy? What could you know of worth? You were born with your gifts. You came into this world of men as a god. You have no idea what its like to earn power. To spend an entire lifetime acquiring more and more, and at the peak of that lifetime, learn that there are beings with powers that defy human imagination, and before them, you are nothing but a speck." Luthor's calm and smug demeanor was replaced by a righteous rage.

"You have earned nothing, Luthor. You have cheated and lied and hurt every one who ever stood in your way to get where you are now. And even that was not enough for you. You not a man Luthor, you are merely hunger, raw hunger that would consume this entire planet and countless others to satisfy your own selfish desires."

For a moment, Luthor wore only a scowl on his face as the two figures remained perfectly still before one another.

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"Wonder Woman to Watch Tower, come in."

On the other side of the communication channel, the sound of a familiar, if fatigued voice came in clear over the line.

"This is Steel, Wonder Woman. I hope you guys have good news."

"I'm afraid not, now listen carefully. The entire Watchtower is to be emptied. I want every member and associate to head down to earth and to stay hidden until further notice. I repeat, all members and associates to go underground until further notice or instruction." The Amazon warrior spoke in forceful, unquestionable authority.

"That's going to be a problem Diana. The Ultimen wrecked every Javelin in the landing bay, and the teleporters…"

"… are still down. They hardly seem worth the trouble sometimes." Wonder Woman mused as she finished the report on her own, her voice sinking uncomfortably as her mind pondered a series of unpleasant scenarios.

Wonder Woman never had the chance to issue further instructions. On the other side of the communicator, Steel's voice and requests for additional orders went unheeded. Wonder Woman went cold with fear as a set of mechanical eyes performed their final scan.

"Now, I have the entire set." The new god formerly known as Lex Luthor announced proudly, floating in the air before the immortal warrior.


End file.
